The Cupertino Courier

Strong finish for Lynbrook water polo

By Dick Sparrer

It could have been better.

The Lynbrook aquatics program could be celebrating two championships in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this week.

But you won't catch the Vikings complaining too loudly after nailing a first and a second in girls' and boys' water polo in the tough De Anza Division. After all, it's not often that two teams from the same school can play for league championships in the same sport.

And that's just what Lynbrook did this fall. Both the girls' and boys' water polo teams played well enough to reach the finals in league championship tournaments.

The girls won it all, beating Menlo-Atherton 12-6 in the title game. But the Lynbrook boys dropped a tough 16-11 decision to Palo Alto in the title round to settle for second.

Senior Suzannah Johnson, the big scorer all year for the Vikings, poured in four goals and Joanna Chung added three to lead Lynbrook to the important victory. Samara Silverman and Nicole Morasky supported with two goals apiece in the win, and Tine Van Criekinge hit one.

The Vikings had earned a place in the title game with a 12-11 win over Palo Alto in the semifinals. Johnson knocked in five goals, and Silverman had three. Chung chipped in with two goals, and Van Criekinge and Parisa Foroumi added one each.

Menlo-Atherton had opened the tournament with a 6-4 win over Monta Vista.

In the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, Homestead lost 14-5 to Mountain View, and Cupertino lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Los Altos.

In boys' water polo, Ross Morrill and Clifton Awuy pitched in three goals apiece, and Jason Gan added two, but the Vikings lost to Paly in the final. Jason Chavez, Ylan Iocobovici and Scott Anderson also scored goals for the Vikes.

Lynbrook had opened the tournament with a tight 8-6 win over Gunn. Morrill, Awuy and Chavez hit two goals each for the winners, and Iocobovici and Anderson also scored.

Morrill came back with five goals and Chavez hit three to lead the Vikings to an exciting 14-13 win over rival Cupertino. Awuy and David Shin chipped in with two goals apiece, and Iocobovici and Anderson had one each.

Brandon Robinson, Ben Donaldson and Daniel Biskupski fired home three goals each for the Pioneers in the loss. Chris Dunlap hit two goals and Steven Puccinelli and Adrian Malamitsas added one each.

Cupertino went to finish third in the league finals with a 12-5 win over Saratoga. Robinson led the Pioneers with six goals and Donaldson supported with three. Dunlap, Puccinelli and Biskupski tossed in one each in the win.

The Pioneers had opened the tourney with a 12-9 win over Monta Vista. Donaldson led 'Tino with five goals and Dunlap had four. Malamitsas, Robinson and Puccinelli buried two goals each for the winners.

D.J. Tuttle and Justin Lee drilled four goals each for the Matadors in the game.

Monta Vista lost its tourney opener 13-6 to Gunn despite three goals by Lee.

The Matadors dropped their fifth-place game to Los Gatos 7-5. Brandon Montaner pumped in two goals for the Mats in the loss.

Over in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, Homestead beat Mountain View 14-8 to clinch third place in the season ending tournament.

Hrsto Avgarski bombed five goals and Artur Studzinski drilled four to lead the Mustangs to the win over the Spartans. Daniel Bodeman and Dave Daines tossed in two goals apiece for Homestead.

The Mustangs lost 15-9 to Santa Clara to slip out of the running for the division championship.

Studzinski led Homestead with four goals in the loss and Avgarski added two.

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